Media and Retail Firms Meld Business Models Online

In search of new business models, some media and retail companies are treading on each other’s turf online.

One of the latest examples is Lockerz Inc., a youth-targeted media website that doles out points to members for watching videos with ads, taking surveys, signing up other friends, and completing other social-networking tasks. This week, Lockerz–which says it has amassed 16 million registered users–is launching a shopping component that lets users redeem those points, dubbed PTZ, for discounts from its own online mall from brands including Sony Corp. (SNE), Ben Sherman Group Ltd. and Nintendo Co.

Sites such as Lockerz, which mix shopping with editorial content, social networking and games, are sprouting up across the Web and drawing significant interest from investors as hot new businesses based on more than online advertising.

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